Azul and Planning

Jade says that Azul is conferred fit to be housewarden of Octavinelle for being “a quick thinker and a farsighted planner,” and Azul planning things far in advance is a common theme throughout the game.

During Beanfest Azul equips himself early on with the most powerful items of the event, which he reveals to Riddle is a result of his having started planning a year in advance: after getting easily captured by the opposing team in his first year, the very next day he starts gathering information to prepare for the following year’s event. 

The second stage of Azul’s plan for Beanfest seems to be blackmailing more athletic students, such as Jack and Ruggie, into working with him. When Jack goes against all advice and goads Floyd into a fight Azul observes, “I’m on the verge of losing Jack…what will happen to all my plans then?”

It is Azul who outlines a strategy to his teammates during the event, and the third stage of his plan was possibly eliminating Jade. Rook shares information with Azul about nearly being eliminated by Jade himself, which inspires Azul’s next step, which is then revealed to be exactly what Jade had anticipated he would do: “Sparing Rook…that was intentional, wasn’t it?”

Azul’s team ultimately does win the game, but the final catalyst was possibly less so Azul’s planning and more Jack’s athleticism (Jade: “I failed to properly account for Jack’s abilities and paid the price”).

Idia goads Azul into playing a dice-based boardgame against his better judgement (“…you don’t think you can win if you can’t plan ahead”), and after Azul loses he forms a plan to ensure that it will not happen again: teaching himself how to manipulate dice in such a way that he can roll the numbers he wants.

Azul explains, “That loss was due to my own negligence. Without proper preparation, I left myself wholly vulnerable to the whims of fate.” Idia says, “that’s how board games work,” and Azul responds, “It’s only how they work if you don’t plan ahead.”

It is Azul’s plan that takes down Jamil in Book 4: using his position as Housewarden to override Jamil’s plot (“I’ve given my fellow housewarden Kalim an alternate proposal”), he improves upon the training camp that Jamil-via-Kalim had instituted, encourages a disheartened Kalim, and creates a study/practical magic/cooking curriculum that has the students of Scarabia dorm enjoying the activities that had been meant to overwhelm them into ousting Kalim from his position. 

Azul even plans in advance for Jamil’s attempt to forcibly take back control (“I always prepare for all eventualities before I act”), negotiating a contract with Floyd that granted him Floyd’s unique magic and thus the ability to divert Jamil’s attack. 

Riddle is surprised to find Azul representing the boardgame club during NRC’s culture fair rather than running Mostro Lounge, and Azul reveals he has planned for the day in advance, hiring sports club members to run the lounge and sell drinks at the event’s main stages (Trey: “Wow, you’ve thought of everything. I should be taking notes”).

Azul has possibly hinted at planning out how to become Housewarden of Octavinelle. Idia says that he has heard Azul “laid the groundwork to get the job in advance” and Azul says that “it took (him) a while to get (there) without making too many waves,” but we have possibly yet to hear what exactly it is that he did.

Azul’s wish for the Wish Upon a Star event is for Mostro Lounge to flourish, but he explains that he has actually already made “thorough preparations to ensure this wish comes true” (Idia: “I’ve never seen anyone prepare for a wish”), planning a collaboration that he hopes will result in a second “or even a third” branch.

Azul also plans in advance for how to seduce Eliza during the Phantom Bride event: “I analyzed the first team’s data and came up with the perfect approach by the ghost’s standards.”

Azul has also been shown to plan for the New Year’s events in advance, doing “copious amounts of research” and drawing up “a plan of action” to ensure that he is able to buy everything he wanted in advance. 

Jade says that if Azul missed even one of the items on his list he would “become so vexed he’d cause a major scene,” but Azul responds, I would never. If such a thing happened, I’d simply come up with an alternative plan.”

During another New Year’s Azul reveals that he has spent “untold days gathering information on takoage battles” in order to beat Malleus and Jamil at the game.” Jamil reflects, “I should assume they have a full grasp of our playstyles and have already planned around it,” which Malleus counters by attempting a new approach, and succeeds. 

Azul also prepares in advance for Glorious Masquerade (“I did research beforehand and formulated some plans”), leading even Rollo to say, “You really have done your research.” Another plan of Azul’s comes into play when he purchases pencils as souvenirs for Deuce and Epel.

The two first-year students are delighted and Azul quietly reflects, “My plan was to befriend some trusting freshmen so the next few years at school would be easier, but these two are alarmingly credulous. I can only imagine how rough Vil and Riddle have it.”

Azul is not pleased when Lilia urges him to dance during the Stitch event without any time to prepare, saying, “I’d prefer to practice the choreography before a public performance” and “You can’t expect me to dance on demand,” but that is exactly what happens during Halloween when Jade goes off script and orders Azul to dance for him (“That was not part of our plan!”).

Azul researches birthday-interview questions in advance and plans “perfect answers” for whatever he is asked. He is posed a question that he does not seem to like (“Do you consider flight magic one of your strong suits or weak points?”), and quickly redirects the conversation onto the subject of land-based public transportation.

At the end Jack reflects, “We’re getting derailed. I kinda feel like you spent this whole time squirmin’ around the subject…Eh, I guess we can call that answer enough,” which was possibly Azul’s plan for dealing with the unfavorable topic.

Azul also plans in advance for his visit to the Fairest City, with both Vil and Ace commenting on the amount of research he has done. He expresses an interesting in doing market research on local patisseries, and when Jamil guesses that he wants to incorporate local treats into Mostro Lounge’s menu, Azul confirms that that is the plan: “If it became known that the lounge’s proprietor had come here himself for research, that would certainly get people talking, don’t you think?”